Sweet Potatoes with Toasted Marshmallow Swirls

Although this recipe calls for 'sweet potatoes', we highly recommend using yams, jeweled yams to be exact. Sweet potatoes and yams are very different and are even from different families of plants. Well, we were not 'quite' sure what this recipe meant, so we got both sweet potatoes, which were white. We also got jeweled yams which were bright orange in color and much sweeter.
The marshmallow turned out shockingly delicious! There was too much of the orange/honey syrup though, so would recommend maybe halving it. We did toast the marshmallow topped yams in the oven to make them warm and delicious. We did substitute maple syrup for corn syrup in the marshmallow which gave it a little bit more of a mapley flavor which we liked.

Sweet Potatoes with Toasted Marshmallow Swirls http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/sweet-potatoes-toasted-marshmallow-swirls

Ready to eat!

In the orange honey syrup

Ingredients:

6 medium sweet potatoes (4 pounds), scrubbed but not peeled
Extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt
1 cup pecans
1 cup fresh orange juice
3/4 cup honey
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup water
2 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Peel and cut the potatoes into rounds, about 1" thick and put them on a rimmed baking sheet. Brush with olive oil and season with salt. Bake the potatoes for about 1 hour, until tender.
2. Meanwhile, spread the pecans in a pie plate and toast in the oven until golden and fragrant, about 7 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop.
3. In a medium saucepan, combine the orange juice with the honey and brown sugar and bring just to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Let the honey syrup cool.
4. In another medium saucepan, combine the granulated sugar with the maple syrup and water and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar syrup registers 240° on a candy thermometer.
5. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar at medium speed until soft peaks form. Turn the machine to medium-high and drizzle the hot sugar syrup into the egg whites in a very thin stream down the side of the bowl; beat until stiff peaks form and the marshmallow is cool. Scrape the marshmallow into a pastry bag fitted with a medium straight tip.
6. Spoon some of the honey syrup over the potatoes and on the platter. Pipe the marshmallow topping onto the potatoes and, using a kitchen torch, lightly toast the tops. Sprinkle the pecans over the top and serve.

What we liked:

Very yummy! The marshmallow and syrup was great!

What we didn't like:

too much honey syrup. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He was suspicious of this food item. 

Next time:

Smoky pork tenderloin with sweet potatoes and asparagus

Today we made smokey pork tenderloin with sweet potatoes/yams and asparagus. We tried golden yams, jeweled yams and actual sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes were white and very different from the yams. We got the original recipe from http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/smoky-pork-tenderloin-roasted-sweet-potatoes with this asparagus recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-asparagus-almonds.

Smoky Pork tenderloin, sweet potatoes, yams, and asparagus

mustard sauce

pork tenderloin

asparagus

sweet potatoes and yams

Ingredients:

For Pork:

1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
2 large sweet potatoes (about 11 ounces each), peeled and cut into 8 wedges each
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 thyme sprigs
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

For Asparagus:

1 pound asparagus, trimmed
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons toasted sliced almonds
1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°. While the oven is heating prepare the potatoes and pork and steam the asparagus for 6 minutes.
2. Cut up the sweet potatoes/yams (circles seemed to work better than wedges).
3. Spread a tablespoon of olive oil on a cookie sheet and place the cut up potatoes evenly on the pan.
4. Sprinkle potatoes with 1 tbsp of salt.
5. Sprinkle pork evenly with paprika, 1/4 teaspoon salt, pepper, and cumin. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add pork to pan; cook 8 minutes, turning to brown on all sides.
6. Bake potatoes at 450° for 10 minutes. Add pork to pan with potatoes; stir potatoes. Put asparagus with 1 tablespoon butter in the oven on another cookie sheet. Bake everything at 450° for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender and a thermometer inserted into the thickest portion of the tenderloin registers 140° (170° for well done). Remove pan from oven. Let pork stand 5 minutes before cutting into slices.
7. Combine remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt, vinegar, honey, mustard, and thyme in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook 3 minutes or until thickened. Add butter, stirring with a whisk until melted. Remove thyme sprigs; discard. Drizzle mustard mixture over potatoes. Serve with pork.
8. Add the olive oil, salt, pepper and toasted sliced almonds to the asparagus. 

What we liked:

The pork was excellent and the cumin was surprisingly good. The (true) sweet potatoes were amazing, but the circle cut yams had the best texture. It was also extremely quick and easy for a full meal complete with sides! 

What we didn't like:

The mustard sauce was not optimal! 

What Kaspian thought about it:

Kaspian had 1 circle cut yam and then opted for a leftover slider with cheese. 

Next time:

The sauce was too strong and did not complement either the potatoes nor the pork well. A cream based lemon sauce or cream based mustard sauce would have worked much better.